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Been some coverage of the National Audit Office's report on Test and Trace today, but not enough of the key line:
Even in a crisis, it's still amazing that fully 70% of T&T contracts were awarded without any competition https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-70-of-test-and-trace-contracts-were-awarded-without-any-competition-12157638
Even in a crisis, it's still amazing that fully 70% of T&T contracts were awarded without any competition https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-70-of-test-and-trace-contracts-were-awarded-without-any-competition-12157638
The details are quite stunning. Serco and Sitel were awarded contracts for contact tracing worth up to £720m... but those contracts were so inflexible that T&T couldn't change staff numbers for three months, even after they realised they had too many call centre handlers
The money is stunning too. Test and Trace spent £5bn on contracts that were awarded directly... and £1.4bn on contracts awarded under framework agreements
A total of £4.6bn on uncompetitive contracts. That's almost half what the government spends on policing every year
A total of £4.6bn on uncompetitive contracts. That's almost half what the government spends on policing every year
The report doesn't give nearly enough detail, but the NAO identified "specific risks" including "lack of central oversight" and "conflicts of interest not being comprehensively managed"
In some instances, contracts were only drawn up after suppliers had started work
In some instances, contracts were only drawn up after suppliers had started work
I spoke to @NJ_Davies, who asked a good question:
What was the point of bringing commercial figures on board to run Test and Trace, if they couldn't get the most commercial part of it right?
What was the point of bringing commercial figures on board to run Test and Trace, if they couldn't get the most commercial part of it right?
More here from the NAO https://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-governments-approach-to-test-and-trace-in-england-interim-report/
There'll be more to come, because it only considered a small part of T&T's spending. There are 154 contracts worth £16.2bn yet to be analysed
There'll be more to come, because it only considered a small part of T&T's spending. There are 154 contracts worth £16.2bn yet to be analysed
And here's more on the context. Needless to say, if you've got knowledge of one of these Test and Trace contracts, I'd love to hear about it https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/nov/18/ppe-suppliers-with-political-ties-given-high-priority-status-report-reveals
